Halloween With Maura
by corikane
Summary: Halloween in Boston and a costume party with the department is hanging over Jane's head - and isn't it just like her best friend to want to go? (No copyright infringement intended.)


**Okay, I'm doing some Halloween-stories just now. This one actually got kinda more intense than I planned on but I hope you still like.**

* * *

There was a knock at the door. Jane looked up from her tv, wondering what the best course of action would be to get rid of whoever stood infront of it. Of course, she was about 99.9 per cent sure who stood there, and if she was honest to herself she didn't really want to be rid of this person but she also didn't want to go to this Halloween party the department was holding in a fancy hotel with fancy food and a jazz band. That just wasn't her scene.

Another knock.

"Go away!" she called out but there were no retreating footsteps, instead she heard a key being slid into the lock of her door.

"What the...," she had time to say before her door opened and Maura walked in, unceremoniously dumping some clothes bags on the couch next to Jane.

"What is all this?" Jane asked. "And why are you using that key, it's for emergencies," she added.

"This was an emergency, those bags get really heavy if you hold them for a while," Maura said, frowning at her friend.

"I'm not going to that stupid party," Jane said testily.

"Oh, yes, you will. I have brought you three different costumes, all very classy and all very comfortable to wear. And you will pick one and then we'll go to the party, in costume," Maura told Jane and picked the bags up again. She pushed them over her shoulder and went in the direction of Jane's bedroom.

"I could wear my police uniform," Jane tried for a compromise and leaned her head on the back of the couch, following Maura's way with her eyes.

"You're not going to a Halloween party of the Boston P.D. in a police uniform, Jane," Maura was relentless and Jane didn't even know why. Maura had pestered her the whole week asking what she was gonna wear, run ideas by her, tried to coax Jane to make any kind of commitment. The only commitment Jane wanted to make was to her tv set and an assortment of Halloween films, a couple of beers and popcorn, maybe an ordered pizza if she was daring enough to trust any kind of ringing at her door. She didn't feel like handing out candy all night.

"Well, considering that I always feel like a clown wearing that thing...," Jane mumbled under her breath, referring to her uniform.

"Don't worry, one of the costumes I brought is an actual clown's suit, so you might as well chose that one," Maura said as she came back through the open kitchen and into the living room. Jane gave her an annoyed look, she always forgot that Maura had perfect hearing. It took all the fun out of grumbling somethng under your breath.

"Seriously?"

"No, Jane. I would seriously not do that to you," Maura answered and then looked at Jane expectantly.

"I really don't want to go," Jane said.

"And I really do want you to go... with me. It's not like you had anything else planned, did you?"

"Sure, I have. Me and my three boyfriends were just settling in for a horrifying evening," Jane gave back.

"Three boyfriends? Dean, Casey, and Martinez?" Maura smiled as Jane narrowed her eyes at her. The cop picked up the dvds from the table.

"Jason, Freddy, and Ghostface," she countered, holding up the dvds.

"I thought you might be a classic fan but 'Scream'? Wouldn't the movie theory references be a little like what you refer to as my 'fun facts'?" She smiled as she leaned over the back of the couch to look down at Jane.

"There is a difference between a little bit of movie theory and your science-y wise-cracks," Jane said.

"Yes, my 'science-y wise-cracks' are actually interesting and educational. And now that you stalled for another ten minutes, I want you to go into your bedroom and try the costumes I brought you. We only have an hour and a half to change and get there, as it is."

"Wait, you still have to change? I thought you were already wearing your costume," Jane said and looked over the couch, up and down Maura's as usually tastefully clothed body.

"And what would I be dressed as?"

"A fashion model?" Jane asked, smiling sexily at her friend. Maura laughed.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Detective. And I still got to get my costume from the car."

"What is it?"

"I haven't decided yet," Maura answered a little evasively.

"I thought it was in the car."

"Well, I actually have three costumes in the car..."

"Three?" Jane repeated, then looked back into her bedroom where three clothes bags lay on her bed. "And you brought me... oh, I see."

"What do you see?" the medical examiner asked, feigning innocence but not very successfully. She blushed as Jane grinned knowingly at her.

"We are going as a...," she started to say but Maura interrupted her:

"I brought matching outfits, yes, but that doesn't mean we'll have to wear them. You could go as one character and I could chose a completely different one from my... choices of garb. It's not like we're a..." And now Jane interrupted.

"Couple," she seemed to merely finish her earlier comment but both knew that something else was going on here as well. In truth, there had been for some time. Jane got her first clue when she'd casually commented on the fact that Maura seemed very eager to set her up with Martinez. She'd unwittingly hit a nerve and Maura had flown off the handle... just a little. But they hadn't talked the remaining day until Maura had apologized with a coffee the next morning. Maura hadn't said anything about Martinez after that but she sometimes seemed fidgety when Jane stood too close to her during an autopsy, or even at a crime scene. Casual touching became meaningful when they now held eye-contact... all that was a little confusing, not so much because it was with a woman but because it was with Maura, her best friend. If you were a butch cop from Boston with a history that included softball and hating to wear dresses, you didn't start questioning your sexuality at almost forty, you have lived with this question your whole life. But suddenly finding your best friend's eyes more fascinating than a killer's MO... that would have you thinking. But in a way, Jane had done all her thinking by now, she was ready for some action. She just wasn't sure if Maura was at the same page with her, or whether she would even want to go there. It was time to find out and Jane opted for the playful way, dropping hints, teasing Maura a little.

"As I said...," Maura started to say but then seemed distracted by the open look from dark brown eyes. "... we... don't have to..."

"Have to?"

Maura almost forcefully broke their eye-contact. She pointed in the direction of Jane's bedroom.

"Jane, please," she said and there was an actual pleading note in her voice. Jane felt a little bad about the teasing and finally got off the couch. She squeezed her friend's arm as she walked by and tried to catch Maura's eyes to tell her that it was okay, that she understood, but Maura wasn't looking at her. Jane resumed her way, already stripping out of her t-shirt as she went. She heard a noise behind her and turned toward her friend but Maura's gaze seemed fixed on the tv that wasn't even on anymore. Had Jane imagined that noise which almost sounded like a whimper? She was pretty sure she hadn't but she didn't want to make her friend even more uncomfortable by asking about it.

Jane didn't bother closing the door behind her. She figured this whole situation would become even weirder if she drew attention to it in this way. They had crossed the barrier of embarrassment over each other's nakedness a long time ago and Maura could always just keep staring at the black screen of her tv.

Jane slipped out of her very worn and very comfortable sweats and leaned over the bed, pushing her hair behind her ears.

"Let's see what we got here...," she mumbled to herself and opened the first bag to the white cotton suit and black shirt of one Tony Manero, John Travolta's character in Saturday Night Fever. "Oh my."

Suddenly she felt eager to slip into this persona, show it off to Maura because Maura would certainly appreciate her in it. Why else would she have chosen this testosterone-laden costume if she didn't imagine it to fit Jane's persona.

* * *

Maura didn't turn back to Jane as the tall brunette entered her bedroom. She simply concentrated on her breathing, one hand pressed to her stomach. It had been a while since anyone had effected her that way, she couldn't actually remember when her body had ever felt this much of a traitor in the face of someone she found attractive. Maybe in college but even then her scientific mind would simply tell her that it was hormones, the pleasing effect of someone's symmetrical features. But none of that seemed to explain away what she now felt, this overwhelming... need for Jane's touch, the embarrassment she felt when Jane did touch her. Could she have actually delayed her adolescence through scientific reasoning?

She knew it wasn't possible and yet her body felt foreign to her all of a sudden - completely out of control. It didn't help her to have Jane simply undress infront of her. And it wasn't like Jane's body had miraculously changed, she has always had this incredible lean, buff torso that was pleasing to look at. It was Maura's own body that reacted differently and instantly. And then Jane was teasing and she felt embarrassed and things would change between them because of this stupid... thing her body did.

"What do you think?" Maura heard Jane behind her and then the tall brunette strutted into the room llike a female version of Tony Manero, leaving Maura with absolutely nothing to say. She could only stare. Jane posed with her one arm pointing at the ceiling and the other stemmed into her hip, squinting her eyes in an attempt at coolness and Maura had to laugh at her antics.

"Very nice," Maura said. "It suits you."

"Actually, the pants are a little bit long..."

"I have a sewing kid in my purse," Maura interrupted and reached for her purse.

"Of course you do. Let me see how the other costumes fit, before you change these, okay?" Jane smiled and turned toward her bedroom again.

When she emerged minutes later she was wearing an early 1930s suit and a replica of a machine gun of the same decade. She pushed her fedora out of her eyes with the ending of the barrel.

"And how do you like me now, little lady?" she asked Maura in a fake Texan accent. Maura giggled.

"Very... masculine," she said and smiled.

"Ah, I don't know. It fits and it's comfortable but the props... I don't want to run around with that gun the whole evening. I'm also not sure about the theme here, I mean, Bonnie and Clyde were criminals. I'm a cop, so..."

"Try the last one. No props," the medical examiner promised. She was a little disappointed, though, because Clyde had actually been her favorite of the three costumes. And Jane looked positively dashing in it, too. Plus, her own costume was sexy and fashionable. That was more than she could say about the other two costumes.

"Ah, well, maybe she will hate the last one and I will be getting away with dressing as Stephenie."

But as she waited for Jane's reappearance in her last costume she heard her friend call out:

"And we have a winner," and in the next moment she leaned in the doorway to her bedroom in tight black jeans, black tanktop and red and white letterman jacket. Danielle Zuko in the flesh and Maura stared yet again.

"You like?" Jane asked softly and Maura shook her head slightly to clear it. She looked up and into Jane's eyes. There lay so much understanding in those dark depths, Maura almost trusted it to say all the things to her friend that had been bothering her for weeks now. But she couldn't, she felt that she had too much to lose if she told her best friend how she felt.

"I'm gonna get my costume," she said instead and left the apartment to go down to her car.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Jane was once again inspecting herself in the mirror. Her hair still lay in her unruly locks on her head but she had absolutely refused to wear the wig that came with the costume. Still, she wanted to do something with her own hair, after all, it had the right color, the texture was full, she could totally make the do work with some pro...

That was when Maura emerged from her bathroom and all thoughts of hair or anything not related to the medical examiner's hotness flew right out of her brain.

"Damn!" she exclaimed and Maura looked up surprised. A look into Jane's eyes explained it all, though, and more. What she saw went far beyond the usual appreciation of her wearing nice clothing, there was want there, yearning. Maura would never have thought to see an unguarded look of desire in her friend's eyes, not aimed at her at least and it made her stop dead in her tracks.

"Jane?" she asked uncertainly and Jane's eyes found her own. The detective swallowed hard.

"I'm sorry, Maur, but... wow. You look... so very unlike Sandy, even though you're wearing her...," at this point Jane merely pointed at the tight black pants and the form-fitting top.

"I wasn't sure about this outfit at all. It seems so trashy in a way but it does fit nicely. Very...," but she stopped her rambling when Jane took a few steps towards her. She still had that look in her eyes.

"Maura?"

"Yes, Jane?"

"I don't know if this is... coming out of the blue for you. I just... something's happening, has been happening for weeks now. You know that, right? Tell me I'm not crazy," Jane asked of her friend. Maura looked at Jane pleadingly, then closed her eyes for a long moment. The detective was sure she was going to deny it, brush it away and make her go to that party where everyone would instantly know that she was head-over-heels for her best friend because she felt that she couldn't hide it anymore. But when Maura opened her eyes, she seemed less afraid:

"You're not crazy, Jane. I... I'm not sure what's happening, it's too early for my meno-pause, I'm taking my vitamins every morning and..."

"Shhhh," Jane made and lay a finger over Maura's mouth. The smaller woman stopped her rambling.

"It's just hormones," she finally said.

"You tell yourself that," Jane said with a smile. Her eyes took on that dark-chocolate-y quality that Maura loved so much, the intense gaze of someone who loved you beyond measure. She had seen this look often, she had it aimed at her in situations of extreme danger, loss and grief, anguish. It was the way Jane told her she was there for her. But right now... none of these applied, it was just a look of love and it took Maura's breath away. Did Jane really feel this way? For her?

Jane touched Maura's face, carressing it, then cupping her cheek as she stepped close to her.

"Would it be okay if I kissed you now?" Jane asked, her left arm pulling Maura closer as it slid around her waist.

Maura nodded and Jane leaned down, capturing her lips softly. Maura answered in kind but the feeling of Jane's body, the pressure of her lips, these things overwhelmed her senses and her body reacted of its own accord, pushing desperately into Jane. The tall brunette moaned at the passion she received for a first tentatively romantic gesture but she pulled Maura tighter, opening her mouth to the other woman's inquisitive tongue.

Things got heated fast and left both women breathless, hands roaming freely over costumes that had triggered the passion but had by no means started it. Maura worked the letterman jacket over Jane's broad shoulders and it fell to the floor. She kissed and nipped at Jane's neck, driving the detective almost out of her mind.

But Jane knew they couldn't go there, not now, not tonight. Things would get even more complicated if they didn't work this out verbally before it became physical.

"Maur," Jane breathed, hating to have to stop this.

"Mhhhh," Maura merely made as she worked her hand under Jane's top to feel heated skin there. Jane grabbed Maura's wrist in a reflex as her stomach muscles contracted violently.

"Maur," she repeated, this time getting through to the smaller woman. Maura ceased her kissing of Jane's neck, she leaned into her for a moment and the detective could feel the swaying of her body.

"Yes, I know," she said and Jane looked down at her. "I guess I lost a little control just now." She smiled apologetically.

"No, we both did. We need to talk about this, Maura."

"I know. I just... God, I didn't even know that I was picking... some kind of secret fantasies when I brought these costumes but... you sure made them work for me," Her dimples showed and Jane laughed lightly. They sure had each other's number, all right.

"Well, you only wore one and that sure did it for me. I guess we have both been holding out on each other." Maura nodded. "Let's sit down, have a beer, talk." Jane took Maura's hand in hers and led the smaller woman into the living room. They sat down on the couch, facing each other.

"What about the party?" Maura asked.

"Forget the party, this is more important," Jane said.

"This is not just some scheme of yours to get out of going there, right?" Maura asked but not too earnestly, her dark eyes twinkled.

"No, it's not but it still worked," Jane answered. "No, I... this is new. It's good, it feels...right but it's new."

"Because you've never been with a woman," Maura said and Jane's eyes grew big.

"You have?" she asked surprised.

"In college, it was... a fling. Okay, maybe more than a fling, it lasted almost a year, but..." Maura made a finishing gesture with her hands. "We didn't stay in touch."

"O-kay," Jane said. "You never told me that."

"Well, I didn't think it was that important. I never thought... I would have feelings like that for another woman again. And I mean with Helen it was... purely physical. I wasn't... I didn't...," Maura stopped, contemplating if she should trust Jane with all of what she felt. But wasn't that the purpose of their talk? And wasn't Jane still her best friend? If she couldn't trust her, who could she trust? "Our relationship was purely physical, not romantic, or emotional," she said and looked deeply into Jane's eyes, conveying what she didn't feel brave enough to say. Jane saw and Jane smiled.

"You know I love you, Maur," she said. "There's no one who understands me like you do. And I trust you not to break my heart because... that's what I'm offering. It's the only thing I haven't given you yet." Maura felt tears sting her eyes at the complete openness Jane showed. It felt raw and vulnerable, and more beautiful than either had anticipated.

"I'll take good care of it," Maura said. "And you will...?"

"Protect yours? Yes, I'll do that." They smiled at each other.

"I love you, too, Jane," Maura finally said. She leaned in and kissed her friend, her partner, her love.

* * *

**Later that same night**

They still sat on the couch, they were still wearing their Danny Zuko/Sandy Olsen costumes. Jane had one arm around Maura's shoulders and the smaller woman pressed her face into the detective's shoulder, shielding her eyes from what was happening on the screen.

"Come on, Maura, you have to see this," Jane said.

"No, it's gross. Tell me when it's over."

"It's just body parts, Maur. You see this kind of thing every day, multiple times," Jane reasoned and grinned. She didn't mind Maura snuggling into her one bit.

"Not like this. I'm usually not there when someone is killed, Jane."

"Nobody's being killed, Maur. It's a movie."

"I guess that is why that first victim had two hearts and only one lung then," the medical examiner mused. Jane looked down at her and into amused brown eyes. They both started laughing.

"All right, it's a bad movie. But I like it. It's trash, it's good," Jane said.

"You know," Maura said after a while. "I'm glad we stayed here instead of going to the party."

"Oh, really?" Jane teased.

"Not just because of... us but... I never would have thought staying in and watching bad movies, having beer and popcorn would be so much fun."

"Told you," Jane gave back.

"I hope Frankie's taking a lot of pictures, though. I so wanted to see Frost in his costume, I bet he looked dashing."

"Frost? He told you what he was wearing? He didn't tell me," Jane pouted.

"Well, we met at the costume shop... it was a coincidence and he made me promise not to tell you. He wanted to surprise you." Maura smiled up at her.

"What? What is he dressed as?"

"James Bond." At this Jane started laughing. "What's so funny?" Maura wanted to know.

"Frankie and him will be so pissed," Jane got out and her friend started giggling at her side.

"Don't tell me they..."

"Picked the same costume." And now they were both laughing.


End file.
